Lights, Brown and 29-14

Monday, September 27, 2010

scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Everything about the atmosphere at Brown Stadium was electric Saturday night. Playing the first-ever football game under the lights in the 133-year history of the program, it was a night that will be remembered for quite a long time.

Brown University football has been a great product for all of Phil Estes’ 12 years as head coach. During that period they have won 3 Ivy League titles and have competed for many more while playing an exciting brand of football. But the crowds for Saturday afternoon home games never seemed proportionate to the product on the field. Until Saturday night.

17,360 fans packed Brown Stadium and were treated to a great night of entertainment. It started at 3pm when security opened the gates to the parking lot for the cars that were already lined up on Elmgrove Avenue waiting to get in.

The tailgating was more in line with something you would see at Michigan Stadium, not Brown Stadium. The barbeques were filled with burgers, dogs and sausages. The coolers were packed with ice cold beer and soda. Footballs were flying around the parking lot as fans, alumni and students alike soaked up the fantastic atmosphere on a chamber of commerce type of day.

The atmosphere was so festive in the parking lot that about half the crowd failed to make it into the stadium for the 6 o’clock kickoff. That soon changed.

Playing host to Ivy League rival Harvard – the preseason favorite to win the league, Brown opened the game with an impressive 16-play 69-yard drive which culminated in an Alexander Norocea field goal to put the Bears up 3-0 on the Crimson. After that drive, which ate up more than half of the first quarter, the crowd had packed into the 85-year old stadium to enjoy the game.

“Our running backs coach Chris Napi kept on asking me if I had turned around to check out the crowd and I told him that I hadn’t,” offensive coordinator Frank Sheehan said. “I was too into the game and concentrating on what our offense was doing.”

“By the second quarter Napi said, ‘Frank, just turn around and look,’ so I did,” Sheehan said. “My eyeballs almost popped out of my head! I couldn’t believe what I saw. It was awesome!”

The story of the game was the play of a freshman place kicker and the Brown defense. Norocea, who had been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week for his performance against Stony Brook in the opener, tied a school record by booting five field goals for the Bears. “It’s nice to have good kicker,” said Estes. “This kid’s money.”

The Brown defense also electrified the crowd with their play all night long.

Crimson QB Andrew Hatch who started at LSU before transferring to Harvard must have thought that he was facing Nick Saban’s Alabama defense. Hatch, who played a perfect game in the opener against Holy Cross, could not do anything against Mike Kelleher’s Brown D. He went 11-23 for 128 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT. He was also sacked four times.

The bone-crushing hits by players like Andre Serrano and Chimso Okoji drew “ooh’s and aah’s” from the crowd. The interceptions by Stephen Peyton and Ron Gillett brought the crowd to its feet. In the end, Harvard could manage just 112 yards of total offense for the game including a mind-blowing -16 yards rushing on 23 carries.

Brown’s 29-14 win lifted the Bears to a 2-0 start on the season and, more importantly, 1-0 in the Ivy League. It also left the near-capacity crowd in a celebratory mood and, hopefully, wanting more.

To say that it was a special night at Brown Stadium would be an understatement. Unless you are a Harvard fan, it was a night that you won’t soon forget.